Gribz

Very very ugly game. Played a bit better after the goal. The positive was Hagi - very good performance for his first start in over 500 days.

What was the thinking if Hagi was coming off? - Was it Yilmaz to LB and push Jefte forward then move Bajrami into the 10??

The shake up thats required is ridiculous. There is talent in there with Hagi, Jefte and Cerny but they cant do it themselves.

Hagi does look good but bar a 5 minute spell we have been very poor. As mentioned grinders and leaders are extremely lacking.

Got to be happy with that. No option to not bring Tav back in but the rest is what Id have gone for

Yes - he was high up on my list also. As for today - Ive no idea what line up to expect never mind what type of performance we are going to see. The only positive is its St Johnstone who are awful.

The original Enigma was Kris Boyd. However there is a big difference between Boyd and Dessers - Boyd knew how to put the ball in the back of the net. His criticism was he didnt do it against Celtic and was a waste of a shirt outside the box - Older posters will remember I was one of Boyd's critics - yet Id take him all day long right now over Dessers. Dessers issue isnt work rate, its that he misses chances in the range from half chances to easy chances to sitters - yet will still get goals but its 1 out of 9 or 10 chances (which actually says we are creating in the final third). But I dont see his game improving in the future and I can only see the sitters continuing.

Arsenal have scored 11 goals at that stadium this year. It was too easy again. Bournemouth and Brentford continue to impress, Ive been expecting them to collapse

West Brom with yet another draw, its easy money with them at the moment. Lampard nicks a lucky point in his first game and Rooney hammered again. Why do these owners persist with trying quality players but clearly awful managers.

He was right by a mile, it was good for an initial period but has got way out of hand now. I think at the turn of the millennium was when it started to become to commercial. Foreign owners dont care who sits in the 50000 seats per game so long as they are full which means tourists and non loyal long term supporters. This shows with the gap between clubs now. Just a few short years ago when there was empty stadiums everyone was saying how important fans are but thats been forgotten already.

I'll go for the Ruud appointment to make Leicester up their game and get something. Newcastle to respond at Palace, Villa to get back on track, Spurs to continue being Spursy and Liverpool to knock Man City out of the title race. Brighton 1-1 Southampton (Result 😁) Brentford 1-1 Leicester Crystal Palace 1-2 Newcastle Nottingham Forest 2-1 Ipswich Wolves 2-1 Bournemouth West Ham 1-1 Arsenal Chelsea 1-2 Aston Villa Man Utd 2-0 Everton Tottenham 2-2 Fulham Liverpool 3-1 Man City

Yup thats looking good, I thought they would have went for a slightly higher capacity though. 53000 is still a big ground but they could fill 60000 especially when you can give an away allocation of 5000.

Didnt realise there was a top of the table clash last night. Sheff Utd go top with a win against Sunderland who havent won in 7. Sheff Utd now 5 clear of 3rd and they started the season -2 points so they are obviously the team to beat now.

I'll second that with Cammy. Not getting a full season was criminal. He was on a total bad patch that nobody will deny that but its been backwards since.

That was news to me aswell, I thought he was call over. Correct decision though.

Can we get a SPL manager and keep Clement for Euro games. Good defending in the first 5 minutes to keep their storm out - you want to see that, good save by Butland then the centre halves throwing themselves at the ball. At first I was wondering if Diomande meant that goal but after watching over its a good finish. The best bit about Igamane's first was the way he took it around the keeper - a sublime little chip to lift it around the keeper. Then he megs the defender for the fourth. And Dessers miss at the end where it was easier to score must cement Igamane to start up front now.

Cheers - would have done it a bit later - Compo and Scott certainly have posts on this. The play offs are mad in this division. At the top I am hoping for Sunderland and Leeds to go up as they are big clubs. Burnley and Sheff U are a bit ugly and yo-yo teams. But Sunderland have become draw specialists in the last 5 games. And we will see if Coventry's decision to rid Robin for Lampard is good or bad

Just posted that in the football thread - I restrained from your bold bit 😀

Lampard has got the gig at Coventry. The Championship should maybe have its own thread considering it throws up regular posts.

I was meaning Harsh for Compo's bet

Harsh. Difficult to pick games tonight. Tottenham v Roma will be the stand out on paper. Hearts go to play the other Brugge club.

Nice only have 2 points so far so its a must win for them. Their domestic form isnt bad (5th in ligue 1). With no out and out left winger it may be likely that Bajrami plays there tonight although when he is listed as the 10 it looks at lot more positive but I expect Diomande to play as the 10. Only a back 3 would half solve that. I dont see Clement playing this but Id like to see the following (Dessers misses a lot but does score in Europe). Butland Souttar Propper Balogan Sterling Raskin Barron Jefte Cerny Bajrami Dessers

And Man City are one of their final 3 fixtures. Hopefully there are no seedings in the play off round but either way it will through up some belters as it stands. Another top rule with this format is nobody dropping into the Europa.

Real Madrid one place above the "relegation" zone, thats too much traffic to get past to Auto qualify although still possible but I would think have the teams above them will win games. This format is good as big teams are being found out a bit rather than having beating boys in the group. Although maybe 36 teams is too much. But Liverpool are impressive under Slot. Its been a dream handover from Klopp. Im not sure how the fixtures work but Leipzig got dealt a terrible hand - Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Liverpool and Inter Milan (cant include Celtic as that was winnable).

What odds would you have got for a draw on the 74th minute!! There are some big teams with a lot of work to do in the final 3/4 games of the "league" stage. I think with this type of league teams thought its a marathon not a sprint but that is all wrong.